Reprise
by Sabara Winner
Summary: Post series and a with a diffrent ending. If say third impact was prevented, and no one merged with that giant Lillith Rei thing. Shinji sits beside an unconcious Asuka and contemplates the past.


It was raining. It hadn't rained for days, and everyone was more or less unprepared for it. Weather reports had called for rain, but since the days of Near Third Impact, the weather had been steady and mundane, so nobody really believed them. Despite all the technology of scientists and such, after the 'betrayal' of NERV, it was very hard for people to trust one another, even with things as harmless as the weather.

Shinji sat on a plaster white chair, a soaked umbrella leaning against his sodden pants causing a ring of water to form at his feet on the ceramic tiles of the hospital floor. Though the lights above flickered brightly, it was no match for the dreary evening that poured in through the large open windows of the far wall. Even the white wash walls seemed like a pale gray which faded into darkness at the farthest corners of the room, both away from the window, and from the veil of light that shone on the only two souls within. The rhythmic tapping of heavy drops could be heard smacking against the window, and when it got heavy enough, it could even be heard on the roof a floor or so up, and a second set of drops came from within the room falling from the wet mop of hair on Shinji's head. Even though he was prepared for the event, it hadn't done him much good as the wind had more often than not, stolen the control of his umbrella, and of course there were the ankle deep puddles that formed wherever a neglected pot-hole lay. The jacket he brought had served as little protection, since no one thought it was necessary to make a rain coat with the weather being so steady for so long. As a result, he looked much like the other people of the city who had been running this way and that through the rain, cursing their ignorance and the weather channel, despite their warnings, and using papers and shirts as makeshift umbrellas.

A sigh soon leaked into the room, melting into the rhythmic drumming of the rain, and Shinji slumped slightly breaking his gaze from the sleeping girl to focus on the window. "What a horrible day, huh Asuka?" The girl made no response, only a steady breathing which evoked a gentle beeping from the monitor. It had been like this for well over an hour now, Shinji saying an odd sentence every so often in regards to the weather or the hospital room or anything that caught his attention, and her lying unresponsive as always. Usually by now he would be engaged in a deep conversation with her, even if she was silent, but this day there was far too much on his mind for him to talk.

There was a gentle rap on the door from one of the nurses, Shinji's head dipping slightly in response. After months of visiting this place, the staff and he had developed a sort of ritual among themselves. Shinji had one hour left with her before the nurse came to change Asuka's bedding and bandages. It was about noon now, and when they came in he would retire perhaps to the cafeteria for a half hour. They all knew his name by now, and he was always greeted with a customary "The usual Mr. Ikari?" to which he would nod and offer a smile in thanks. He was well respected around here, though in the beginning he was opposed to it, and he didn't care about the formalities people used when addressing him or the special treatment he received. There was no fighting it he realized, and just let people do as they wished. There were whispers of course that he was conceited and stuck up, and rumors did circulate, but that was to be expected. Actually, he didn't think it was any different than when he had first started piloting. No, nothing had really changed.

"I saw Rei today." His voice broke again into the noisy silence of the room. "Only, it wasn't Rei. I thought maybe it would have been another one of my father's clones at first but..." He searched his mind for answers, but like before when he had first seen the brown eyed brunet on TV with his father, he could find no explanation. He continued to speak to the sleeping girl, "Lilith was destroyed and so was Rei…I just don't understand it. Maybe it wasn't her, I don't know." His deep blue eyes traced the contours of Asuka's face, searching for some sort of response though knowing he would find none. "I guess I should just forget it huh? Were not involved anymore." A small smile crept over his face, one of utter peace as he recalled this fact. After Misato told the truth to the USA, everyone turned on NERV and Gendo was arrested along with everyone that was found alive. Since then, Gendo had stood trial and questioning by just about every faction that had to do with NERV, and he had been in and out of jail several times. Now he was out again, though Shinji didn't know the details, and he was talking nonsense about a new way of thinking and all the usual garbage he spills to the public. Over the past year, Gendo had done nothing but try and sweet talk his way out of jail, at least that was how Shinji saw it, and there was no point in him listening to his fathers ramblings. That part of his life was over now, and he and Misato had lived a relatively peaceful life since then, so there was no point in getting worked up over ghosts and memories, especially now that Misato and himself were out of the lime light and could finally live without being bothered by the UN or even just paparazzi looking for more information on NERV and Instrumentality and how Shinji Ikari saved the world. They even had a new apartment though it was mostly for security reasons. Still, it was a wonderful change of pace and Shinji had no complaints.

After a few more moments of silent tranquility, Shinji knew it was time to go. Stealing a glance at his watch to confirm his thoughts, the slender boy rose from the chair using his umbrella as an unnecessary crutch. The seat he was on was wet, and the puddle at his feet had grown a little bit and he felt a pang of guilt, deciding he would offer to clean it himself when the nurse came in. They probably had enough to worry about without him making things worse. Shinji stood there a moment longer, his gaze falling on Asuka as she lay in silent slumber. A flicker of light from outside the window lit her features up for a moment, followed by a growl of thunder from above. Shinji hadn't even realized the room had grown steadily darker and the light above was getting weaker, causing extremes of dark gray and white shades to play across everything beneath it. Yes, today was turning out to be quite miserable. "Well Asuka," He finally said in a silent and melancholy tone, "I'll see you later." He leaned down, careful not to get her wet though his hair was just damp now, and placed a small kiss on her cheek. After favoring her with a final glance through warm eyes, Shinji turned and silently left her side, pausing only a moment in the open doorway to glance back. He liked to entertain a foolish hope that she would wake up the instant he was about to leave, probably to berate him for kissing her, but it never happened, and this time was no different. With a smile at both her and his own foolishness, he turned away, closing the door behind him.

**Authors Notes:** Oki, this was the beginning of a fic that I was going to write, but in all honesty I dont really have the time to write out as much as I want. However, I love the way that this came out, and I guess I'll leave it up to the readers imagination what everything means. Sorry if thats mean :\ I dont mean it to be, just a result of my lack of free time. I do like oneshots though :3. So yay for oneshots!


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